Sports
Rosemount Boys Can't Capitalize on Forcier's Big Game, Fall to Edina
Irish junior Brandon Forcier scored 27 points, but Edina beat Rosemount 54-46 on Saturday afternoon.
The Edina Hornets boys basketball team overcame 27 points by Rosemount’s Brandon Forcier to beat the Irish 54-46 on Saturday afternoon at the Edina Community Center.
Nate Carlson’s drive and layup gave the Hornets a 46-44 lead with just under a minute left, and Edina iced the game with free throws. The Hornets are now 11-3, including a 7-1 record at home.
“We had 22 turnovers today,” Rosemount coach Bryan Schnettler said. “We’re averaging 19 [per game]. It’s tough to win games when we have that many turnovers.”
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But for most of Saturday’s game, though, the story was Forcier, not turnovers.
His career-high point total came in a game where the Irish played without brothers Andrew and Matt Nelson, the team’s two tallest players, at 6’8” and, 6’7,” respectively. They are also two of the team’s top four scorers.
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Yet the Hornets had no answer for Forcier, especially in the first half, when he scored 18 points. The 6’5” junior got the ball deep in the post for layups, scoring easily with either hand.
“His footwork was really good,” Edina coach Pat Dorsey said. “I thought he got the ball where he wanted it. He had an absolutely phenomenal game.”
“He was finishing for the first time this year,” added Schnettler. Forcier came into the game averaging six points per game this season.
The tenor of the game changed when Forcier was whistled for his fourth foul with 5:15 remaining in the game and the Irish up two. Edina’s Chris Thompson hit two free throws to tie it, and then a Rosemount turnover led to a three-pointer from the Hornets’ Graham Woodward to make the score 43-40.
Although Forcier returned to the game with three and a half minutes left, the Irish struggled, turning the ball over several times in the closing minutes.
Rosemount senior Kevin Larson tied the game at 44 with 1:25 remaining when he hit a turnaround baseline jumper, but Carlson followed that with his go-ahead layup.
The loss drops the Irish to 4-8 on the season.
Flip DeBerg led Edina with 14 points.
Up next: The Irish host Eastview at 7:15pm on Jan. 18 at the Rosemount High School.